George Santayana had irrational faith in reason - I have irrational faith in TV.

Monday, August 27, 2007

Hillary, Gonzales, The Constitution, and Ron Paul

Here is what Hillary said to Chris Matthews this morning at the LiveStrong Presidential Cancer Forum about the resignation of Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General. She said she hopes that when the next Attorney General "takes an oath to uphold the constitution, he actually means it, understands it, and will protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." MSNBC has been playing it tonight about every five minutes.

Good advice. And Gonzales manifestly deserved to go.

But where was Hillary Clinton with her good advice when Bill Clinton signed the Communications Decency Act into law in 1996 - which sought to bring the Internet under the same unconstitutional regulation that the FCC metes out to broadcasters every day, in blatant violation of the First Amendment? (Fortunately, the Supreme Court struck this law down.)

And where was Hillary Clinton when she authorized Bush's taking the country to war in Iraq, without the Declaration of War required by our Constitution? And where was she when Bill Clinton did the same against Serbia?

It's all too easy to make support of the Constitution a political sound-bite, a weapon you can use against your adversaries.

What counts are politicians who do more than mouth the right words - we need people who respect the Constitution in their votes and their actions.

Ron Paul is really the only candidate in either party with a record of unambiguous, clear support of the Constitution - voting against illegal wars and attacks on the First Amendment at every opportunity.

The Democrats, including Hillary, have a lot of good they can contribute to the American people. But they need to start walking the walk as well as talking the talk about following the Constitution.

About Me

Paul Levinson, PhD, is Professor of Communication &
Media Studies at Fordham University in New York City.His 8 nonfiction books, including The Soft Edge (1997),
Digital McLuhan (1999), Realspace (2003), Cellphone (2004), and New New Media (2009, 2nd edition 2012), have been the
subject of major articles in the New York Times, Wired, the Christian Science
Monitor, and have been translated into 12 languages. His science fiction novels include The Silk Code (1999, ebook 2012), Borrowed Tides (2001), TheConsciousness Plague (2002, 2013), The Pixel Eye (2003), The Plot To SaveSocrates (2006, ebook 2012), and Unburning Alexandria (2013).His short stories
have been nominated for Nebula, Hugo, Edgar, and Sturgeon Awards.Paul Levinson appears on "The
O'Reilly Factor" (Fox News), "The CBS Evening News,"“NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” (PBS),“Nightline” (ABC), NPR, and numerous
national and international TV and radio programs. His 1972 album, Twice Upon a Rhyme, was re-issued in 2009 (CD) and 2010 (remastered vinyl). He reviews the best of
television in his InfiniteRegress.tv blog, and was listed in The Chronicle of
Higher Education’s “Top 10 Academic Twitterers” in 2009.

e-mail received from a reader:Dear Paul, I just dreamed of airships flying between raindrops. I just returned from 2042 CE, where I sold my hardcover copy of The Plot to Save Socrates for seventy million Neo-Euros, because it had your response to this e-mail from way back in 2007 scotch-taped onto the inside of the cover. A Paul Levinson collector paid top Neo-Euro, because of the authentic archaic e-mail printout from you. It turns out that not many of your e-mails from before your tenure as CEO of HBO/Cinemax and terms as United Nations Secretary General will survive that far into the future. So, please respond to this e-mail, to help found my great-grandchildren's fortune. My Will will stipulate that they must share with your great grandchidren. Thanks! Tom